Monthly Archives: July 2007

Harry Patch goes back to the trenches

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Once in a while, you come across a news story that leaves you feeling humble. Today produced one such story.

Britain has just one living survivor of the trenches of the Great War, Harry Patch. Today, 109 year old Mr Patch returned to the site of the battle of Passchendaele, in which he fought and several of his comrades were killed.

Today, Harry Patch paid homage to the German victims of the battle, recognising that the ‘poor bloody infantry’ of both sides paid a terrible price. We should all feel honoured by Mr Patch’s humanity.

I wrote about Flanders fields last year. It’s extraordinary to think that events 90 years ago are at the same time a living memory and history.

The doctor will see you now…

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The Times‘ columnist Dr Copperfield today provides an insight into why the Government’s trumpeted drive to extend GP surgery weekday opening hours and by-pass surgery reception staff is misconceived.

The Essex GP explains how the pressure to cut waiting times has led to the bizarre side-effect that it’s hard to book a GP appointment more than two days in advance, as this would look as if the patient was being kept waiting too long. He sings the praise of surgery receptionists, who get round the system and add the human touch vital to any service, such as making sure a nervous 16 year old whose period is late isn’t sent to see the doctor who’s a lay preacher.

My mother would approve: she was a receptionist at Llanedeyrn health centre in Cardiff for many years.

Dr Copperfield brands NHS Direct TV as a kind of Rutland Weekend Television run by nurses. For anyone under 40, RWT was Eric Idle’s first creation after the demise of Monty Python’s Flying Circus.   

Rasmussen’s shame as Tour de France enters last chance saloon

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Cricket has never been popular in France. Yet France Soir newspaper appears to have taken inspiration from cricket’s Ashes legend for its lament for the Tour de France’s latest doping disaster.

The Ashes, the name given to test cricket matches between England and Australia, recalls a satirical obituary in The Sporting Times for English cricket after an early Aussie victory. France Soir’s cover similarly presents a mock death notice for the Tour de France at the age of 104 after a long illness.

Satire aside, the 2007 race was developing into a fascinating context, as fans hoped that cycling had put its drug addiction behind it. So the news that race leader Michael Rasmussen and pre-race favourite Alexandr Vinokourov were out of the Tour over doping allegations was the worst possible blow for fans. How bizarre that Britain’s tabloid media were getting excited about whether cannabis should be reclassified at the same time that participants in one of the world’s greatest sporting events were habitually taking drugs.

My sympathy lies with cyclists like Britain’s Bradley Wiggins, whose heroic breakaway on stage six was one of the highlights of the 2007 Tour (see Guardian report). Wiggins has spoken out against cycling’s drugs culture. Yet his Tour is over as his team, Cofidis, pulled out after its rider Cristian Moreni failed a dope test.

Nine years ago, the Tour de France descended into scandal as the Festina team was the centre of doping allegations and police raids. Last year’s winner Floyd Landis is still protesting his innocence after failing two drug tests after the race ended. (See my post Tour de France 2006 – the missing year. This year’s developments suggest that cycling still hasn’t got the message: that it can only survive if it becomes clean. The mystery is that cycling teams can still find sponsors. Companies are rightly becoming more concerned about being associated with events that are embroiled in controversy. Carphone Warehouse famously suspended its Celebrity Big Brother sponsorship after the allegations of racist comments about Shilpa Shetty. How long before companies like Rabobank, the Dutch bank that sponsors Michael Rasmussen’s team, decides there are better and less risky ways of promoting its brand?

CTC boss pushes for Chilterns Cycleway

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I received an email today from Kevin Mayne, the director of CTC, the national cyclists’ organisation, about his proposal for a Chilterns Cycleway. Kevin is a member of the Chilterns Conservation Board, which has accepted that there should be a cycle equivalent of the popular Chilterns footpath.

It’s a nice idea. The Chilterns have a surprisingly remote feel for an area just 25 miles from London. It’s a great getaway for cyclists from the metropolis.

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Chiltern and Virgin: a tale of two railways

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I’ve experienced the very best and the very worst service from Britain’s railways this month.

First, the good news.

I arrived at Marylebone station last week to get the train home to Seer Green. I discovered chaotic scenes as a signal failure had brought services to a standstill. My train was cancelled, leaving me with a long wait till the next scheduled service. I asked Donald, the station manager, if they could stop one of the other trains for Seer Green travellers. He said he would do what he could. I didn’t expect too much, as that train was just minutes from departure. But within moments came the loudspeaker announcement: we’d get our special stop, and 10 grateful people got home 30 minutes earlier than they expected. Great customer service.

Fast forward a week, and I’m returning from Chester to Watford Junction on Virgin Trains. We left Crewe seven minutes late but lost more and more time as we travelled south. The guard said we were being diverted via Stoke but didn’t bother to explain why. We finally pulled into Watford 30 minutes late, without an apology or even an acknowledgement of the delay. As I left, an elderly lady was terribly upset as she didn’t know what to do as she had missed her connection. I can’t imagine Richard Branson accepting that kind of dreadful service if he were on the train…

I wrote to Chiltern Railways managing director Cath Proctor praising her staff. Now, where’s Richard Branson’s address? 

Were you the Como cyclists?

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Cycle_tourists_como_june_2007_2

Just back from a wonderful holiday touring the continent by car.

During our travels, we spent a night in Como Town. We were not impressed by the hotel Metropole Suisse – having been told it had parking, we were not happy to be directed to a public car park half a mile away.

But things improved when we discovered a wonderful pizza restaurant in the backstreets of Como. We spotted these cycle tourists enjoying a meal. After our meal, we moved on to the square on the waterfront to savour Italian ice cream. The cyclists had had the same idea! We wished we’d asked them where they were travelling. If you happened to recognise yourself, please let us know! (The date was Thursday 28 June.)